New York Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie Named as 2018 Commencement Speaker for SUNY Old Westbury

The speaker at the 52nd Annual Commencement of State University of New York at Old Westbury was today announced to be The Honorable Carl E. Heastie, speaker of the New York State Assembly. Commencement will take place at NYCB Live: Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, May 20, 2018.

"As we prepare to celebrate the Class of 2018, I am pleased and excited that we will have with us a leader who has spent his career in service to others," said College President Calvin O. Butts, III, in making the announcement.

Heastie is the 100th Speaker of the New York State Assembly, and he is the first African-American to serve as leader of the Chamber’s 150 members representing communities across the state of New York. Since his appointment as Speaker in 2015, he has led the Assembly majority in its efforts to uplift communities and promote a "Families First" agenda that prioritizes strategic investments in the health, safety, economic and social well-being of New York’s families. In 2000, Heastie was elected into the Assembly and remains the representative for the 83rd Assembly District in the northeast Bronx.

Prior to joining the Assembly, Heastie served as a budget analyst in the New York City Comptroller’s office. He earned a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from Baruch College of CUNY and a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and statistics from Stony Brook University.